Which character in House M.D. is modeled partly on Sherlock Holmes?

Gregory House is the House M.D. character modeled partly on Sherlock Holmes.

House and Holmes share exceptional deductive ability, abrasive personalities, drug dependence, and a tendency to treat investigations as intellectual puzzles. House’s surname also resembles Holmes’s, and his best friend James Wilson parallels Holmes’s companion Dr. John Watson.

The medical cases in House M.D. function like detective mysteries. Symptoms act as clues, misleading evidence creates false leads, and House’s final diagnosis resembles the revelation at the end of a Holmes story.

The inspiration is an influence rather than a direct adaptation. House is a modern physician working in New Jersey, while Sherlock Holmes is a fictional consulting detective created by Arthur Conan Doyle and based primarily in London.